Six Months
by Casey Jones as Casey Jones
Summary: Six months before it happened, the team sat not knowing what their fate would be. Six months later, they sit in a room together, all dying. And truth be told, none of this would have happened if a book wouldn't have been written, if a relationship wouldn't have happened, and if she would've just listened.
1. Chapter 1

**6 Months After**

"I'm still not telling you!" Shouted a firm voice without any hesitation. His eyes gazed to his fallen teammates, before it went back to the pooling blood underneath himself. He held his side in pain, cringing as he saw the others.

"That's such a shame. It looks like I'll just have to kill you too," the other voice said in a chilling raspy tone. The younger boy looked up with a blood filled smile. The older man smiled back behind his mask, raised his scythe above his head and brought it down just as the doors burst open, a girl rushing into the room with tears in her eyes.

"No!"

**6 Months Before**

"Even if I knew who he was, I still wouldn't tell you!" The man choked against Raptor's grip on his throat, sputtering words that were barely coherent. Raptor's grip tightened, and he barely had room to breathe in.

"Now are you going to tell me, or am I just going to choke you out?" Raptor asked as she glared at the man. He was suspended off his feet, his back against the brick wall at the end of an alley. Raptor, clad in black and white, seemed to be the brightest one in the alley.

"I don't know!" The man cried out. Raptor's grip tightened for a second, before she released him, her glare softening. He seemed to be telling the truth, but Raptor released too late. The man was unconscious, and she still had no more of a clue on who her family was or if she even had one.

"Great," the young fourteen year old mumbled, running her fingers through her straight brown hair, before getting to the tips were it had a reddish hue. She glanced down at the bigger man, before blowing strands of hair away from her face. She bent down and picked him up, flinging him over her shoulder fire man style.

As she left him tied to a streetlight, she turned on her heels, walking back into the dark. It's been a while since she'd escape from Cadmus, and she had no idea where she originally came from. Sometimes, and not frequently, would she get short flashbacks of her previous life. She sighed as she walked over to a Zeta-tube, punching in her number for coordinates.

_"Come on sweetie, we're going to the park!" A young woman said in a cheerful tone, holding onto a little girl's hand. The small girl smiled hugely, trying to run away from her mother's hand. _

_"Come on mommy!" The girl said in a rushed tone, tugging her mother's arm. The woman laughed, moving slowly still, but at a faster pace to keep up with the girl's shorter legs. The woman glanced back, smiling at her husband._

Raptor tore off her mask, now becoming Sparren. That was the memory most of the time, replaying over and over again behind her eyelids. It was never ending, and the image was so blurry she couldn't even make out the man's or woman's features. Sparren sighed as she ignored the sounds coming from the living room as she walked back into her own room.

As soon as her door was closed, and of course locked, she started removing her costume. She slowly removed her hooded cape, throwing it onto her bed messily. She sat down, removing her knee length boots and utility belts, each with either a colour of either white or black. She sat on her bed for a while in just her original body suit, which was indeed black, before making an effort to change.

Her body was sore, and bruises formed on her ribcage in awe. She breathed in deeply, hoping a mission wouldn't happen for at least the next five hours so she could get some sleep. Her breaths were choppy as it hurt for her ribs to expand, before she finally fell asleep, holding open a journal of people who worked at Cadmus when she was there. Another name was crossed off the list.

Meanwhile, hidden on the roof of the mountain, Azalea and Nathan stood, leaning over the edge. They both had cigarettes between their pointer and middle fingers, as they slowly smoked. Azalea glanced at the stars above them and smirked.

"It's beautiful out," Azalea said in awe. She brought the cigarette back to her lips and mused. The apparent deadly things had no effect on her, and she didn't care much about what others had to say about her habit. She glanced sideways at Nathan, who didn't appear to be paying any attention to her.

"Maybe the stars are actually holes in a dome the United States government put over us," Nathan said as if he had read Azalea's mind. She smiled again. "Or maybe that apparent God ran out of Sharpie ink." Azalea chuckled, but remained quiet. Whenever you were around Nathan, you only had to state one sentence before he kept the conversation going, and that's probably what she liked the most about him.

"It's kind of cold outside," Azalea said aloud. She glanced down at what she usually wore, which consisted of a light blue sundress, her boots, and her various accessories, which consisted of her mother's bird necklace. Azalea shuddered, upset that winter was indeed coming.

"You can go inside, I'll be out here a little longer," Nathan said as he sat down, his legs now hanging over the edge. Azalea sighed, but did as she was suggested to do. She stopped at the entrance of the door.

"Don't stay out here too long, or you'll get sick," Azalea said in a teasing manner, even though she meant it. Maybe it was towards her proneness to getting sick in the winter, but once outside in the cold for too long meant that there was no missions or patrol.

"I'll gladly catch pneumonia," Nathan muttered. Azalea closed the door and walked back out, before sitting next to him. His eyes slid over to where she sat, and he rolled his eyes. "I was kidding." He stood up, knowing that unless he went inside first, she wouldn't leave and eventually get sick for being outside for so long.

Azalea smirked, standing up as well. Nathan quickly put out his cigarette before walking inside, his cheeks flushing red at the sudden heat. "Now you're going to get sick," Nathan said out loud as they walked down the stairs together. Azalea shrugged.

"It's okay. I'll gladly catch pneumonia," Azalea joked. Nathan smirked as they finally reached the bottom, heading inside. Sparren passed them in the hallway, slugging in her step as she partially limped. Nathan's gaze followed Azalea's as the younger girl walked inside her room, closing the door quietly behind them.

"I'll go get an ice pack for her," Azalea said in a small voice as she walked into the general direction of the kitchen. Nathan nodded simply, before walking inside the living room, leaving Azalea alone to go to the kitchen.

As she pulled a pack of ice from the freezer, she greeted Sarah, who was busy listening to music as she stirred something in a pot. Azalea then decided that she might as well hurry and give Sparren the ice before the young fourteen year old fell asleep. Azalea raced down the hall, knocking on Logan's door on her way, speaking over his music to turn it down because Sparren looked like she needed sleep.

"Sparren," Azalea cooed as she knocked on the girl's door. No sound came from the other end besides unstable breathing. Azalea tried opening the door, but it was of no use considering it was locked. Azalea took a deep breath in. _Should I just use my powers to get inside? _Azalea wondered. _But what if she is naked?_ Azalea decided not to chance it, but walked back towards Logan's room to get a pen and paper to write Sparren a note for when she awoke.

Sarah hummed the tune that matched her music selection as she stirred the pot of the pasta she was making. Being the oldest in the group, and quite frankly the only one who knew how to cook, she found herself the one that made all the dinners.

Sarah spun around on her heels to grab a spoon, and saw that Azalea was walking in the kitchen. The sixteen year old had a rush in her step.

"Hey?" Sarah said a little confused. Azalea just simply nodded, ignoring the questioning tone in Sarah's voice. Sarah rolled her eyes as Azalea retrieved an ice pack from the freezer, before rushing off. The twenty year old held her breath as she picked up the pot of pasta and carefully moved it towards the table.

"Dinner!" She screamed out loud. Almost immediately following after her words, Nathan emerged from the living room and into the dining room. Sarah smiled, sitting down just as Azalea made her way back into the kitchen with a smile.

_"I hope you'll be okay here," Nightwing said as he ran his fingers through his jet black hair. He gave a short smile towards Sarah. "And if you need anything, don't be afraid to give me a call." And with that said he gave a turn towards the Zeta-tube, and gave Sarah one last smile. _

_"When will the others show up?" Sarah asked with slight hesitation in her voice. The copper blonde frowned as Nightwing wasn't able to answer her question. She spun on her heels, her suitcase along with her. Almost instantly, a rush of air hit her, and she was now face to face with a ginger._

_"Hey I'm Wally! I was told to kind of give you a tour of the mountain, so come on!" Wally rushed as he grabbed for Sarah's hand. She blushed madly, smirking slightly as she was sped throughout the place, her suitcase abandoned in the hanger._

"No Sparren or Logan?" Nathan asked with a confused look. Azalea shook her head as she sat down next to Sarah at the table.

"Sparren fell asleep after patrol, and I don't want to wake her up, it looks like she was beat pretty badly," Azalea said in a quiet voice. She fixed her dress, and Sarah was tempted to reach across and smooth the girl's short wavy red hair. Abruptly, Nathan stood from his seat, the chair screeching behind him as he did.

"I'll go get my brother," He said as he left the room. Both girls at the table watched as Nathan left, shaking their heads.

Logan sat in his room, listening to music as he was working on something on his laptop. A knock came from his door, followed sharply and quickly behind Azalea's voice, which told him to turn down his music. Logan did as told as he turned down the music in the background. He was perfectly fine sitting in the small locked room typing.

Just as Logan typed '"I'm still not telling you!"', the door was knocked on again. Logan sighed as he grabbed his black hoodie and threw it over his T-Shirt. Getting up from his desk, Logan opened the door to see his older brother standing there.

"Sarah finished making dinner," Nathan stated as he glanced inside Logan's bare room. It lacked personality besides the laptop on top of the desk, considering everything else inside was just black. Nathan shook his head as Logan walked back inside to sit at his desk again.

"Not hungry," Logan said as he continued typing. Nathan rolled his eyes as his brother's antics. "Too busy working on something," Logan added, using the least amount of words as possible. Nathan nodded curtly.

"Okay dude, you'll eventually have to come out of your dungeon sometime," Nathan joked as he turned to leave. Logan cracked a smile, the door closing behind his brother. As soon as the door was closed, Logan threw his sweatshirt off and continued typing.

**'**_The girl continued to experiment with the wires as she wiped sweat off of her forehead. Even though Delilah use to do experiments like this each and every day, she felt a little more agonizing concern for this one. In reality, she could actually be electrocuted if not done properly. _

_Delilah stood up, removing her safety goggles as she realized that her experiment failed. She sighed, before turning around to start cleaning up her work space._**'**

A light flashed and a girl which barely stood above five even fell to the ground in the Warehouse District. Her dark hair was tangled as her safety goggles hang over her neck. Her eyes were tightly closed, before she opened them to look around.

"Looks like we aren't in Kansas anymore," Delilah said as she whistled. She frowned as someone stepped out of the shadows with the no face. Their entire body was cloaked in black and it seemed to her that the person glided above the ground rather than simply walking.

"Who the hell are you?" Delilah snapped as she backed away from the figure. In an eerie and raspy voice it answered back, inaudibly. Delilah's eyes widened once she realized who exactly she was speaking to. Feeling the need to somewhat bow, Death stood in front of her.


	2. Chapter 2

**5 Months, 3 Weeks, and 6 Days Before**

"Is it true? Are the rumors true?" A tone of true excitement filled the air as two security guards rushed side by side into another room. The lights were dimmed and the air was crisp, along with the slapping of their feet when they touched the floor.

"I hope not. The last thing we need is the return of the Nazis," The other guard stated in a less than enthusiastic tone. Using a bypass security code, both men emerged to see whatever everybody was talking about. There, in cold hard proof, was the youngest Nazi member still alive.

"Holy shit," the first guard whistled in amazement. "How long do you think he's been stuck in that ice?" He asked as he brought his hand up to press his palm against the ice coating. The other guard slapped his hand away with wide eyes.

"Ice is gentle you moron. It'd be smarter if you didn't touch it," the guard placed his hand on the other's shoulder, escorting him out of the room with an eye roll. "In a few hours the Justice League will be here to watch him as the scientists remove him out of the ice and take him into custody," he informed.

With one last look at the young soldier, they both left the room. They didn't know, however, that the Justice League had better problems to attend to, and that this minor problem would be observed by… well… the minors.

"I spy with my little eye… something brown," Azalea stated with a smirk, a finger on her chin as she looked at the man in the ice. Just moments previously, the scientists that were in the room with them walked out, checking on stats in another room. She glanced down at her feet to see Nathan leaning on her with a bored expression, his hand holding up his head.

"I swear to fucking God if it's my hair again I'll clobber you," Nathan stated with a somewhat tone of a growl. Sarah shot a glare towards both of them.

"Songbird, quit playing around. Nine, curse one more time a dare you," Sarah ordered in a demanding tone. Nathan held his arms up for defense, whereas Azalea snickered under her breath. Sarah shook her head as Azalea continued the I spy game, a small smile forming.

"I spy with my little eye… something red," Azalea continued. Nathan sighed through his nose, before glancing up at the girl, craning his neck to get a better look at her eyes. The only things remarkably red in the room where located somewhere on Azalea's costume.

"Is it… your domino mask? Wait no, that's stupid, you can't see something that's on your face," Nathan corrected himself. He played with the shoelaces of his black combat boots, before humming, looking her up and down. "Is it your top?" He asked. Azalea glanced down at herself, before smiling, shaking her head no. Azalea's top somewhat mimicked that of Kim Possible's, showing her midriff, but concealing her arms until her wrists, where her black fingerless gloves took place.

"Give up yet?" Azalea teased. Nathan's eyebrows scrunched up together.

"Never. The red stripe on the side of your pants?" Nathan questioned. Azalea sighed.

"You got me," She said. Nathan smirked before laying down on the floor, looking up at the ceiling. Sarah smirked from her position, crossing her arms over her chest before walking over and leaning against Azalea's chair.

"You made Nine check you out… didn't you?" Sarah whispered towards Azalea, or otherwise known as Songbird. The younger girl smirked, before shrugging her shoulders. On most situations, Sarah would have asked again, making sure she got the answer, whether it would be her powers forcing them or her intimidation. However, Sarah was sure she knew the answer herself already, without having to ask for real.

"Alright Nine, I know you've been checking in on Six's comm link the moment we arrived, so how's perimeter looking?" Sarah asked. Nine opened his eyes, glaring up at Sarah.

"Now why in the name of hell-" Sarah coughed roughly, letting him know to change his language. "-heck would I be spying in on my brother like that? Oh by the way, perimeter is fine. Nothing suspicious," Nathan added at the end with a smirk. He stood up, dusting himself off in the process.

"How'd you know that he was listening in on their conversation, Veritas?" Azalea asked towards Sarah with a humored look. Sarah just shrugged her shoulders, before looking out the window to see Sparren on a tree, binoculars in hand.

"She really shouldn't be on this mission," Nathan stated with a small frown. "She'll probably just injure herself even more." Nathan frowned once more, wiping sweat from off his face as he walked towards the end of the room to check the door.

"Hey, is it hot in here or is it just me?" Azalea questioned, fanning herself with her hand. She stood up, only to fall down harshly the next second, her head smacking the floor with a loud bang. All heads snapped to her.

"Oh God…" Sarah muttered as she looked up at what was supposed to be the iced Nazi soldier, only to find him not so iced anymore, shrugging off the small pieces of ice still on him.

It seemed to happen so fast as the soldier jumped down from his spot, eyeing the area briskly before seeing the others. His face contorted to anger and he marched towards Azalea. His blue eyes looked past her however, and up into the rafters. He continued to march, almost stepping on Azalea. Azalea shrieked very briefly, and Nathan forced a force field in between the two. Azalea scrambled up.

"I hate being wet! Shit!" Azalea growled, trying to dry herself off as quickly as possible. Sarah was screaming in the comm link, before rushing out of the room to go look for a professional.

"Hey stop!" Nathan tried to order as the soldier punched Nathan's force field, causing it to weaken. "Great, I don't think he knows English! Shit, everybody who knows German aren't here!" Nathan added.

"Now I wouldn't say that!" Sparren said as she kicked the door open, revealing the young fourteen year old. She rushed into the room with a giant smirk on her face, before flipping over a puddle and making her way towards the other two.

"Oh Songbird's wet, she won't be any help right now," Sparren stated in an obvious manner. Azalea glared at her.

"Shouldn't you be on perimeter with Six right now?" Azalea snapped in an almost bitter tone, folding her wet arms across her chest. Sparren shrugged her shoulders.

"Veritas said you guys needed help, therefore I came," Sparren said signaling to herself. Nathan rolled his eyes, before wincing.

"That's great, really. I'm so glad you two are getting along together nicely and all, but IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T NOTICED, I AM STRUGGLING WITH A FUCKING NAZI SOLDIER RIGHT NOW!" Nathan snapped. Both girls turned to the situation at hand to see that Nathan was struggling to keep the force field up that separated the team from the attacker. Sparren went serious, her laughter dying down.

"Alright, I can handle this," Sparren said as she turned around. Just as she turned around, the force field cracked, Nine falling to the floor in a heap. Sparren started to slightly panic, bile rising in her throat. As the Nazi soldier tried running past her, she jumped over him before sitting on top of his neck. From her utility belt, she snatched her gas mask, before letting the gas grenade go off. She jumped off his back just in time for her to open the door for Azalea to pull Nathan up and out of the room.

"Well, that… was dramatic," Azalea said, panting all at the same time from dragging the bigger boy. "Where is Sarah and Logan?" Azalea pondered. Sparren shrugged her shoulders, not saying anything.

"Sarah ran down the hall a while ago to go get help, we should probably go and start looking for her," Nathan said with a slight grumble. Sparren smirked widely.

"Awe, little Nine is worried about Veritas," Sparren teased. Azalea frowned slightly, walking forward with her arm around Nathan's waist as his arm was draped across her shoulders in the direction their leader had been running to.

* * *

Sarah had been in the business long enough to realize when something was wrong, and this was one of those times. She held her breath as she walked inside the stats room. The lights were off and broken shards of glass were on the floor.

"Crap," She muttered under her breath as she leaned down to a scientist who was laying there discarded on the floor. A pool of blood surrounded his body and she went to check his pulse. She closed her eyes tightly, before going around the room to find other dead scientists.

"This isn't good," She said to herself out loud as she checked the vitals herself. A soft creeping came from behind her, and Sarah turned around, arms up and ready. She put her arms down just to see Six behind her with a serious face. "God, what is it with you and Predator coming off of perimeter?" She snapped.

"You… sent an emergency alarm?" Six said slowly and somewhat carefully, choosing his words with caution. Now it was Sarah's turn to look confused, before her eyes went wide.

"Oh my God, I left the others alone with a melted Nazi!" Sarah said stunned, before running out of the room with wide eyes. Logan ran on behind her for a short amount of time, before his longer legs surpassed the older girl. In about a minute flat, they rounded the corner only to bump into said team members.

"Found them!" Sparren said with a smirk. Logan immediately went to his brother's side, relieving Azalea the struggle of carrying the heavier boy.

"Where's Jaun?" Logan asked with a calm and steady voice.

"Who?" Nathan asked, finally being able to stand for short intervals.

"Volker? Jaun Volker? It's the soldier's name? When Batman briefed us he gave us this information," Logan stated in more like a questioning tone. Nathan sighed, muttering something under his breath in a foreign language. "Yeah exactly. Let me go and talk to him," Logan said, looking towards Sarah for permission.

"No! In case you don't remember, you are part Polish and part Russian. The Germans fucked you all over in every way and he is not going to take a liking towards you," Nathan reminded. Sarah crossed her arms over her chest with a glare towards the younger boy.

"He's not going to get hurt, they'll be best friends before you know it," Sarah insisted with an eye roll as if it were obvious. Everyone looked at the older girl with worry in their eyes. Before anybody could say anything following such a previous statement, the soldier, or Jaun Volker, exited out of the room, bounding down the hallway.

"Fuck this," Azalea muttered. Being finally dry, she disappeared in a smoke like cloud, the smoke traveling above Volker in a rush. Midair, Azalea dropped down to sit on Volker's shoulders, wrapping her legs around his neck. Without any problem, Volker grabbed Azalea by her midriff and launched her across the room.

"Well shit, any other ideas?" Nathan quipped, grabbing hold of the girl before she could fall to the ground. Sparren opened her mouth to speak, German flowing off her lips in an easy movement. Volker's face grew angry as he started to march to the younger girl.

"Yeah, I'm guessing he shouldn't know modern German!" Sparren said, before flipping backwards and out of the way of an oncoming fist. Logan snapped something in a different dialect, somewhat similar to Sparren's. The soldier stopped with a glare, his head turning towards Logan before softening.

"I am no imbecile, I speak the English you do," Jaun Volker stated in a slow and strained tone.

"God Damnit, why did you pretend to not understand us then?" Nathan asked with a heavy voice. Jaun looked confused for a moment.

"I was not knowing your language not on purpose, my actions reflected that of seeking out tiny girl with a gun," Jaun said in an angered tone. He tried looking past them, but to no avail.

"Well, I suppose now we are being forced to bring you back to the cave. We need to find out who this tiny girl was, because she also killed the scientists who were supposed to revive you," Sarah said, moving away from the others to talk on her comm link. She was careful not to use any trigger words such as base in her sentence, looking back as the others scrutinized him. She sighed as Batman answered her. "We have a problem…"

* * *

**5 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days Before**

Nathan walked down the hallway of the cave, Azalea at his side. Both had come down from the roof after their cigarette break, ready to start training. Azalea laughed at a previous statement as they both walked into the training room.

"Who the hell are you?" Nathan asked, Azalea's laughter long gone. A 6'4" African American turned around, putting the weights in his hands down. His dark brown eyes glared towards the obviously shorter male. He stuck his hand out.

"My name is Alpha, but you can call me Michael Warren," His voice was deep and somewhat monotone. "And my branch of a team just joined yours," he added.

"Wait, what do you mean 'your branch of team just joined mine'? I didn't even realize there was another branch," Azalea pondered, a hand on her hip.

"Indeed, my branch was the stealth branch. The point of us was to get intel without people knowing we were there," Michael said, his expression unfaltering. Before the original two could question the 'us' part of his statement, a chuckle was heard from above. All of the occupants glanced up to see two people sitting in the rafters. Michael smirked.

"I'm guessing they are part of your branch?" Azalea asked with a soft tone towards Michael. He glanced at her with hard eyes.

"That is the rest of my team. If they decide to unhinge themselves from the rafters, I'm sure they would love to introduce themselves to you," Michael said in a loud tone. Even though he was speaking to Azalea, it appeared that he was more fixated on the two above. Without another word, both dropped down from above, the smaller one landing in a crouch.

"Yeah, hold that thought. SARAH!" Nathan yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth. His dark brown eyes never left the site of the others, studying them and the way they moved.

The only female seemed to stand up straight, nearly floating with a smile on her face as her eyes seemed nice and friendly. The two boys matched the other in height, Michael the heavier one between the two. Michael stood tall, authority in his stance as he just stood, his arms at his sides and his nose sharp. The skinner boy stood in a gloomy type of way, his eyes concealed behind aviator shades, even though from his position, you could tell that he was looking at all the entrances and exits of the room.

"Jesus Nathan, we were just finishing up the tour with Jaun," Sarah said as she entered the room, Jaun, Logan and Sparren behind her. She didn't look surprised seeing the new three people, and instead had a look quite bored.

"I believe we already met the temporary leader," Michael said in a dull tone. Sarah raised an eyebrow, a hand on her hip. "But I do apologize, my name is Michael." He stuck out his hand towards Jaun, who eyed it wearily.

"Jaun Volker," The blond said, his eyes squinting upon the other member, before finally sticking his hand out as well. A million things raced through Volker's mind, including some not so friendly words and terms for the young African American whilst hands were intertwined.

"Sparren!" The young fourteen year old chirped, surprising Michael. He looked back at his previous teammates and raised an eyebrow. Sparren also looked back, but towards Azalea, with her hands behind her back, his ears turning red as well as her face. "Sorry, I didn't mean to sound so unprofessional," Sparren apologized, looking down at her feet with a frown.

"It's okay! I think it's pretty awesome that you are so full of energy! I mean, that's so-" The young girl from the other branch begin, before being cut off from a sharp glance from the other member. "-so unprofessional, yeah, that's what I meant!" She said, waving her hand in dismissal. Just like Michael, she faired a dark complexion, her eyes and hair even darker. "But anyway, I'm Louie!" The girl beamed with a smile.

"Louisa, I think it would be wise if you toned it down," Michael said with a harsh look.

"I'm not afraid of you," Louie said with a smirk. "Because I am just that awesome and-" With another sharp look for the unnamed member of the previous branch, Louie cut her sentence short. She still smiled towards Sparren however, her eyes twinkling.

"Well, I'm Nathan, and that's my brother Logan," Nathan stated, putting harsh emphasis on the word brother. Nobody said anything about it though, and Logan sort of waved with a soft 'hello'.

"I'm Azalea, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance," Azalea said with a smile, holding out her hand for the others to shake. Michael stared at it a long time, before quickly shaking her hand, whereas Louie grabbed it as soon as she offered her hand with a smile. The unnamed one simply nodded in her direction.

"I'm sorry, but I believe my fellow teammate is mute. He goes by Anon," Michael introduced the last member with a slight frown.

"Anon? Such as Anonymous?" Sarah asked with confusion. Anon shrugged his shoulders. "Alrighty then. I do believe we introduced everybody. I'm glad your branch could join ours, Michael." Authority hit every word of that sentence, striking each syllable like she meant it. Michael's eyes squinted, and he resumed with his training session.

"Let's get out of here," Nathan whispered to Azalea, who nodded, looking at the tension before her. It made no sense that there was an entire branch that remained unnamed for so long to her, and she frowned. How much did the team not know about not only each other, but of their own lives?

* * *

**A/N: I apologize that this update couldn't come out faster, but I had broken my wrist along with two of my fingers, and typing was terrible. I'm better now, so more updates should be coming along. Also if you want anything to happen in the story, feel free to shoot me a review or private message.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Five Months, Six Weeks and Two Days Before**

_You're stupid. You're worthless. You're nothing but a bother to them all. Can't you see that for yourself, you stupid bastard?_ Tears cascaded down his face as he furiously tried to wipe them with his sleeve. He was getting better for a while, but now he felt numb once more to all the kindness that surrounded him. He didn't believe the words everybody reassured him countless times over again, because now they seemed forced and strained, like they were just replaying the same things.

"Fuck," his voice cracked. He was sitting in the corner of a room, his knees brought up to his chest as he was clutching a piece of paper with scribbled on pen markings. He could do it right now. _I can do it right now… but what would they think? They would blame themselves and then where would I be? He saved me once, he won't do it again. _

A knock echoed off the door, scaring him into jumping in his bed, throwing the covers over his face to pretend to sleep if they dared walk in. When he didn't respond, the door slowly creaked open, and soft footsteps walked over to his form. He scrunched his eyebrows together as he cringed when a hand touched his shoulder. It hurt, oh God did it hurt.

"Sleep tight, I am so proud of you," the voice said in a whisper. _I'm proud of you. I'm proud of you. I'm lying. _He could barely control his fresh set of tears before the body left the room, closing the door carefully. He made a soft frustrated noise, kicking his blankets off his body. He couldn't breathe, it was too much. _Why are they all lying to me? _

_Just do it. Just do it. _He clutched his head in pain, his eyes shut closed. _I can't do it anymore. _He stood up and crossed the room towards his desk, where he opened multiple drawers to find what he was looking for. He picked up the vial of medication and struggled to open it, clutching his note in his fist. _Goodbye._

* * *

**Five Months, Five Weeks and Six Days Before**

Nathan and Azalea sat across from one another at the kitchen table, his head in his hands as he waited for his coffee to finish brewing. Azalea looked over at him in worry as he stood up and poured his cup. "You alright?" Azalea asked as he turned back around with two mugs of coffee.

"Yeah, I just didn't get any sleep last night," Nathan muttered, placing both coffees on the table in front of her. Azalea calmly took up one mug and took a sip of it. For once, Nathan didn't attempt to keep the conversation going, and Azalea didn't have anything to say.

"Good morning," Sparren said in a sleepy tone as she walked into the kitchen still wearing her pajamas. It wasn't new that Azalea didn't respond, but when Nathan didn't respond, it took up her curiosity. "What's up with you?" She asked in a teasing matter. Nathan looked up from resting his head on the table.

"He didn't get any sleep last night," Azalea answered for him, to which he gave her a grateful glance. The rest of their conversation seemed like a blur to him as he was struggling not to fall asleep on the table. _Just go to bed. _He chastised himself. Just as he was getting ready to stand up, it seemed like the rest of the team came in from the gym.

"Hey Logan," Nathan said in the happiest and least strained voice as he could muster when he saw that Logan entered the kitchen. "How was early morning practice?" Azalea watched on in interest as it seemed that Nathan's tiredness disappeared. Before Logan could even find the correct words to respond with, Michael spoke up first.

"Training was proven mediocre at best. As your team does have the strength and endurance, they're too loud and open with their movements," Michael said, taking three water bottles from the fridge and tossing them behind his back towards Louie and Anon, who caught them effortlessly. Nathan clenched his fist underneath the table with anger. _What gives him the right? The only three from our team there was Sarah, Jaun and Logan._

"Wait, what do you mean mediocre? It was _your _teammate who struck on head first like she didn't have a mind! That would have killed her out in the field," Sarah challenged, putting her hand on her hip. If there was one thing that Sarah was good at, it was defending her and others. Louie sat down next to Anon at the table, who wrapped a hand around her shoulders.

"I'm not trying to quarrel with you, young one. I'm simply suggesting that some of the members on your team need to be trained," Michael said in a monotone voice.

"Trained? I am what you call a soldier, I have more training then you ever will," Jaun spoke in tinted English. It was true, Jaun showed exemplary fighting skills even after being inactive for years, and he showed no weakness such as mercy when sparing.

"Tell me soldier, how are you going to fight without a gun?" Michael challenged back. "If you all are done acting like toddlers, I'll be in the gym once more," and with that said Michael left with no further explanation. Sarah's knuckles had turned white on her fist, and her face was going red.

_"What, are you going to fight your own mother?" A woman hissed, holding a little girl's wrist tightly as she cried. Sarah stood up and rushed to her little sister's side, taking her arm away from the woman who had barked that at her. _

_"Don't touch her!" Sarah yelled. The woman back handed her with no remorse in her eyes. Sarah and the young girl both ran away into the other room as their mother continued screaming at them from the living room. "It'll be okay," Sarah reminded her younger sister as she passed the her a beaten up teddy bear. "One day we'll get away." _

"You'll fight without a gun, Volker," Sarah ordered, storming out of the room. "And everybody will be training for an extra two hours each day," she added. Nathan looked over at Azalea and sighed, before standing up and making a move towards the door that led to the roof, making a motion of his head to follow. Azalea stood up from her seat and jogged to keep up with Nathan's long legs.

* * *

"Can you believe this?" Nathan asked angrily as they marched up the stairs. "An extra two hours! Bullshit! If Michael and his branch never joined our team than Sarah wouldn't have ordered that!" Nathan ranted. When they finally reached the roof, Azalea closed the door behind her softly.

"Maybe we do need the extra training," Azalea tried to reason with him as he angrily took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket along with a lighter. "I know that I need help not to get stuck in walls," she said. Nathan lit his cigarette and took a long drag of it.

"No, Azalea. You're perfect just the way you are right now. You don't need extra help, I don't need extra help and Sarah's doing this just to prove that she's just as good as a leader as Michael," Nathan quipped. Azalea blushed a deep scarlet as Nathan paced around the roof, running his hands through his hair.

"Why are you so worried about the extra two hours anyway?" Azalea asked, trying to keep up with his speed. "Just calm down Nathan, it'll all blow over eventually. Don't work yourself up like this." Nathan stopped dead in his tracks, his hands on his head as he breathed in deeply.

"Because Azalea, I have better things to worry about than an extra two hours I don't need. I have to take care of my brother and make sure that everything's okay with my dad and-" Nathan worried, chuckling at the end. "-and I can't be put under that much pressure all the time!" Nathan threw his cigarette on the floor and sat down next to it, putting his legs to his chest. Azalea sat down next to him and wrapped her arm around his shoulder.

"It'll be okay. Everything will work out fine," Azalea said, trying to calm down the older boy. _Who knew he was put under so much pressure? _She thought to herself. "You're strong and can pull through this."

* * *

Louie watched as Sarah stormed out of the room, followed quickly behind by Nathan and Azalea, who left in the opposite direction. "Thanks Spence," Louie whispered to Anon, who just simply gave a curt nod. He retrieved his arm back, looking over at Sparren who had whistled loudly.

"Talk about anti-climactic," she said. "They should really get a room, just saying." She sat down next to Logan at the table, who was just sitting there with his hands in his lap. "So what did you two do at practice that gave us all an extra two hours of training?" Sparren asked, eating some cereal as she still was managing to properly wake up.

"Jaun did nothing wrong," Logan admitted, playing with the hem of his light grey sweatshirt. "I just…" he trailed off, not being able to finish his statement.

"I was loud and showed no mercy. The adolescent is modest with his training, which was nearly unflawed," Jaun said, giving a sharp look towards Logan, who looked somewhat surprised. "You have no confidence in your work." Sparren raised her eyebrow, but said nothing else.

"I fell," Logan said quietly. He stood up and walked out of the room without saying goodbye. Sparren sighed while standing up to put her bowl in the sink and she turned to Jaun.

"Don't take it personal, I haven't even seen him have a full conversation with his brother," Sparren stated. "Hey Louie and… Anon… do you want to go and maybe walk around the pier for a while? You can come too Jaun, you know, if you aren't having your lessons today."

"I appreciate your welcoming position, but I indeed do have lessons today," Jaun said, still looking off a little bit to where Logan had walked into his room. "I believe today I shall be learning more modern English, excuse me," Jaun said as he stood up and started walking off to the rooms.

Sparren had to bite the inside of her cheek to stop herself from talking after his leaving frame. _"He's a lost cause, don't you think I already tried?" _"Alright," she said instead. Sparren looked back towards Louie and Anon. "So?"

"We'd love to," Louie answered, standing up. "This is going to be so much fun too! Oh my gosh, we should go to that one shop that sells this foreign candy!" Louie said excitedly. Anon softly smiled down at the younger girl who was bouncing with excitement and she gasped. "Oh and we should totally go down to the magic shop!" She added. She glanced over at Sparren and giggled. "But I think before we do anything, you should go and change." Sparren looked down at herself to realize that she was still in her pajamas.

"Yeah, I should probably go and do that now," Sparren chuckled awkwardly.

* * *

**I'm sorry, I started school again and it completely tore me apart and my hand. But I'd still appreciate to hear what you guys think and what you want to happen. **


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